MUNICH – The Swiss Federal Railways SBB could soon face competition in long-distance transport.
A new agreement is intended to partially open up international rail traffic to Switzerland, among other places, and make it easier for private providers such as Flixtrain to access the market, reports “schiene.de” citing “Blick”.
As “Blick” reported on Wednesday, the route from Munich to Zurich is one of the ten pilot projects supported by the European Union (EU). Flixtrain is interested in the route, writes “Blick”.
Flix does not yet have an exact start date for the route, but the company says they are in contact with the EU Commission and the Swiss Federal Office of Transport.
Flix initially grew in the long-distance bus business as “Flixbus” and is now also active in rail transport in several European countries with the “Flixtrain” brand.
In Switzerland, Flixtrain already heads to Basel station from Berlin. An extension of the line to Zurich would also be conceivable, reports “Blick”. Flixtrain is currently looking for local partners for transport in Switzerland, even if the company could even travel to Switzerland alone according to the latest developments. It is said that SBB is open to cooperation.
-In addition to Flix, there is also interest from other rail companies in entering Swiss rail traffic. The Austrian Westbahn would like to “rearrange its expansion priorities as soon as more information is available,” reports “Blick”.
However, new providers in the Swiss market will have to contend with a whole range of challenges. The regular timetable in Switzerland must be adhered to and the Swiss tariff system – for example the general subscription – must also probably be accepted. Swiss working conditions also apply.
© schiene.de | 22.01.2025 11:24
Swiss
